Juror harassment alleged in Page trial
The jurists reported, independently of each other, to the court bailiff upon returning from Thursday's lunch break that they felt they had been followed. Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Terri Kohlrieser spoke with the female jurors in her chambers, separately, and said each gave detailed descriptions of the vehicles involved but could not identify the race nor gender of the drivers.
"They did give enough detail that I believe they believe they were followed," Kohlrieser said. She noted that one juror lived "off the beaten path" in a rural area of the county.
The judge then brought the women into the courtroom individually to question them further. Each jurist said they believed they could continue to serve on the case and vowed to be fair and impartial.
Kohlrieser said she checked with officials at the Allen County Sheriff's Office to see if police officers had escorted the women home on Wednesday. She was assured that no such directive had been issued. The judge did, however, issue her own warning to everyone inside the courtroom on Thursday.
"It is a potential crime to follow a juror home," she said. "If I find out anyone did that, you will be held in contempt of court, and I will ask the authorities to bring criminal charges against you. I will not tolerate anyone messing with the jurors."
Testimony comes slowly
Testimony in the case on Thursday came primarily from law enforcement officers who responded to the Fraunfelter Road home of Dianna and Benjamin Shelton, near the intersection of West Elm Street, in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 2022. That is where Page is alleged to have crashed a vehicle he was driving after leading Lima police officers on a pursuit that prosecutors say exceeded 120 miles per hour earlier that night.
Jurors listened to body microphone footage from Sgt. Matthew Gill of the Allen County Sheriff's Office, who interviewed the homeowners a short time after the incident. Gill told Benjamin Shelton that Lima police were "99% certain they know" who had broken into the residence. That tentative identification came after Page had fled from Lima police officers earlier in the evening.
Jurors listened as the officer showed Shelton a photo he said was taken from Page's Facebook profile. "That's him," Shelton is heard saying in reference to the couple's attacker.
DNA links Page to scene
Shelton told Gill that both he and his wife had been beaten by Page and that Dianna Shelton "got it worse than I did." The woman told jurors on Wednesday she suffered multiple facial fractures, a broken nose, a concussion, severely lacerated lip and other bruises at the hands of Page.
She said the attacker struck her and her husband repeatedly over a span of several hours before forcing them to drive him to the intersection of Breese and Yoakam roads in Shawnee Township. Gill testified that Lima police officials were aware Page resided at a nearby home on Red Bud Lane. A search warrant was executed at that location later that morning, but Page was not located. It was later learned that Page fled the area. He was arrested nearly two years later in Nevada.
Deputy Jerry Cress, an identification officer with the Allen County Sheriff's Office, testified Thursday that he obtained DNA samples from the Dodge Ram pickup truck used by the Shelton couple to transport Page to the Shawnee Township location.
Testimony later in the day from Devonie Herdeman, a forensic scientist in the DNA section of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, revealed that Page's DNA was discovered on the armrest in the rear driver's side seat of the pickup.
DNA taken from various locations inside the Shelton's home contained insufficient data from which to draw a match, Herdeman said.
Acting as his own attorney, Page drew rebukes from Judge Terri Kohlrieser on more than one occasion Thursday for his line of questioning. At one point the judge instructed Page to "stop testifying and ask a question."
Page, 34, is facing felony charges that include having weapons under disability, improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, aggravated burglary, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of felonious assault in connection with the Oct. 30, 2022, incident.
Testimony in the trial will continue Friday.
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